


Untitled

by orphan_account



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Declarations Of Love, Developing Relationship, Episode: s17e19 Sheltered Outcasts, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-12 02:33:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19219807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: A sort of coda written through the latter half of season 17 and beginning of season 18, because I am heavily disappointed with the more recent episodes.





	Untitled

“What’s for dinner?” 

The accent had grown on him, Rafael had to admit. He turned to see Sonny, fresh out the shower and apparently hungry. 

“Indian food from that place down the street, sound good?” He called over his shoulder, and crossed the living room to press against him.

“Yeah,” he said between kisses. “You know what else sounds good?”

“Ugh,” he complained, which only gave Sonny the satisfaction he was seeking, “is that your idea of a segue?” Rafael tugged him by his shirt, which he now realized was in fact his and quite ill-fitting on Sonny’s much taller figure. Sonny untucked Rafael’s shirt and let his hands explore. When they grazed his nipples, he couldn’t help but groan a little. His touch was intoxicating and he couldn’t help it.

Lips against lips, they stumbled a few steps across the postage stamp that was Sonny’s apartment and to the couch. He pushed Sonny against the couch, only to be met with a hiss.

“Shit!” He sat up sharply and crumpled forward to ease the pressure on his back.

His fingers stilled, poised on his shirt buttons, while Sonny rubbed at his back. His brows furrowed with concern and his hands flew to him to see what was wrong. He pushed up the fabric of Sonny’s shirt to reveal a blossoming of bruises against his lower half. 

“Jesus Christ.” He muttered. The paleness of his skin only made the bruises seem more daunting. The couch dipped as he sat next to the younger man. Liv had mentioned that the victim’s father had attacked Carisi but she hadn’t mentioned it was this bad. 

“Didn’t you go to the ER?” Rafael’s fingers brushed against his skin, surprisingly gentle. 

“Nah, ‘s fine, honestly it looks worse than it is.” He smiled, but it came out as more of a grimace. 

Rafael’s eyebrows shot upwards. “Oh really, because judging by your reaction, it should’ve been checked out by a doctor.” 

“Rafael, honestly, it’s fine.” He sat a bit straighter as if to prove it. “It’s just been a while since I got hit by a bat, okay?” The joke fell flat and didn’t help mitigate Rafael’s worry. 

He stood with a huff, in search of some scotch, even if he was only to be disappointed by Carisi’s measly selection. Sonny stayed on the couch and sulked. 

After a beat of silence, he spoke up again. “Why do you care anyway?” He knew he was poking at the bear but it was gonna come up sometime, so why not now?

Rafael returned with a glass of wine accompanying him. He had chosen a red over what scotch or lack thereof Sonny had in his kitchen. “What do you mean?” 

“You know what I mean. If this was Rollins or Fin or anyone else, you wouldn’t give two shits.” There was no venom in his voice, he was only stating facts. 

“Well, I’m not sleeping with Rollins or Fin or anyone else, Detective.” He said pointedly and sat in the armchair rather than the couch. 

‘Anyone else,’ his brain conveniently pointed out to him. Exclusivity. They hadn’t really talked about that. 

Not that they hadn’t kept this silent code of being exclusive because God only knows Rafael doesn’t have the time nor the patience for anyone else and Sonny is more of a one person person. 

Rafael must’ve also realized his wording because a blush settles upon his cheeks and he takes a sip to hide it. Sonny, in turn, keeps prodding.

“You’re the one who wanted to keep this no strings, no feelings.” There it was.

“Oh, not this again.” He rolled his eyes. When he realized Sonny wasn’t going to let this go, he sat forward. “You want to do this now? Okay, let’s do this. I’m human, contrary to popular belief, and you’re still my friend. So excuse me for caring. And you’re the one who agreed to the terms of this relationship, let me remind you. I made very clear what I wanted and left no space for misinterpretation.” He hated how shrill and upset he sounded right now. 

“And yet you still take me to dinner all the time and we even went to the opera last week.” Sonny’s hands had joined in, helping him prove his point with wide sweeping gestures.

“Would you rather I kick you out immediately after we’ve had sex? I’ve been being polite. Friends can still go to dinner together, wouldn’t you agree?” 

“You really expect me to believe that? That you’re just being polite?” He laughed although bitterly. Sonny was standing now. 

Rafael stood to mirror him and put his glass down, ignoring the wine that sloshed over the brim of the glass. “Yes! I know you and your kicked puppy heart wants to believe that it was something else, but it isn’t.”

“Kicked puppy heart, what is that supposed to mean?” He was looking like a kicked puppy at this point and Rafael didn’t know how this had turned into a yelling match.

“You tell me. You go undercover a day after I tell you not to get attached? Without telling me?”

“What I can’t do my job without asking you first? And that conversation had nothing to do with going undercover.” Okay, maybe it did. Just a little. “I did what I had to do!”

“Now who’s lying to themselves? You were avoiding me. And look where that got you.” His arms were crossed, trying to keep his voice at bay. The whole floor didn’t need to be keyed in on their conversation.

“Will you make up your mind? I was doing as you said to do. Not to get too attached. I went away for a week, so what? It doesn’t matter right we’re just sleeping together?”

“What do you want me to say, Dominick?”

He bristled at the use of his first name. He remembered his mother using it to scold his father or sometimes when he heard them fighting in the dead of night.  
With Rafael, it was always ‘Sonny’ or ‘Carisi’ if they were at work and maybe a ‘Dom’ every now and then.

“Do you want me to tell you that I enjoy your company? That I missed you? That I wouldn’t mind pursuing a real relationship?” The sobering truth marinated between them for a moment before Rafael wet his lips and spoke again. “That I love you?” 

It was more of a confession than a proclamation, said in the spur of the moment and was currently freaking out Rafael’s type A mind. He waited, blood rushing in his ears, for something to happen, for Sonny’s lips to move from their current ‘o’ formation. 

Before he could say something or even move, the doorbell rang. 

Sonny, ever the gentleman, cleared his throat and went to retrieve their food and pay. Rafael sat back down, using this moment of privacy to collect himself. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine a way that this could have gone any worse. His mind drew a blank. 

He listened to Sonny make small talk with the delivery guy. He made frivolous conversation with everyone, all the time. It was endearing. 

His eyes fluttered open when Sonny placed his hands on his knees. He was kneeling in front of him, ready to speak.

“I love you too,” He began but didn’t get much further than that. 

“Oh, thank God.” Rafael took his face in his hands and kissed him. Sonny smiled against his lips at his relief. “You couldn’t have said that before?” 

Sonny was grinning now, like a Cheshire cat. He placed his hands on Rafael’s wrists and gazed up at him. “You love me.” He teased. Rafael pushed him and rolled his eyes. 

“You’re so immature.” He said, still through a smile. 

“Yeah, but you still love me.” He took Rafael’s hands into his own. “I’m sorry for yelling. Food’s gonna get cold, we should eat.”

\------------------------------------------------------  
Sonny groaned under him, shifting in the bed. Dawn hadn’t broken yet and the room was still painted in shades of black and blue. He moved off of the younger man and murmured, “I thought it wasn’t that bad.”

“Yeah well, I lied.” His voice was still thick with sleep. He propped himself up on one arm and rummaged in the drawer for some aspirin. 

“So what now?” He watches him sit up and reach for a water bottle on the nightstand. He can see the dark splotches on his back, even in the dim light. He wants to reach out and touch, but something stops him.

“We didn’t really talk about what’s next, huh,” he chuckled and slid back under the covers. He nestled against the heat of Rafael’s body again. “Let’s just see where this takes us, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied. There was still a lot that was unclear and uncertain. He wasn’t too good at just letting things happen and loosening up. He wanted to say more, but Sonny’s breathing had already evened out and he needed the sleep. 

So he waited. The sun rose shortly, which meant that Sonny wasn’t too far behind. 

He must’ve dozed off because the next time he opened his eyes, the bed was cold and the smell of coffee was in the air. 

Sonny had risen an hour ago, already dressed and ready to go. He had even ran down to get some pastries from the bakery across the street. It was odd, falling back into his usual routines after a week of living in some of the worst conditions possible. The apartment seemed too quiet, compared to the shelter with all of his roommates. 

God, he couldn’t wait until this case was finally over. 

A hand on his shoulder shook him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a fully showered and dressed Rafael. “Morning.” 

Sonny mumbled a response and got up to pour him a cup of coffee. Rafael sat perched on the edge of the dining table, all catlike and smug. He gladly took the mug Sonny handed him and said nothing aside from a thank you. He kept his face neutral, not really letting Sonny in on what was really going through his head. 

“What’s up?” Sonny prompted. 

The older man peered at him over his coffee mug. “You sure you’re okay?” 

He cracked a smile, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Rafael’s gaze didn’t seem to relent. “This case and going undercover is messing with my head a little, is all,” he admitted. 

“You wanna talk about it?” 

“Nah, I’ll just be glad when this is over.” Besides, Rollins had heard enough from him already, no need to burden Rafael with this too. He changed the subject, “You sure you’re fine? After last night, I mean. It’s not everyday that you admit you don’t actually hate me that much.”

He chuckled and set down his mug. “It’s all a bit much,” he paused to wipe a crumb from the corner of the other man’s mouth. “But I trust you.”

**Author's Note:**

> hello lovely people, i hope you enjoyed. i'm so upset by season 20 that i refuse to acknowledge it so i am writing or rather rewriting some of season 17 and 18. i don't know what to call this story yet so if you have any suggestions those would be appreciated.


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